Written Answers Monday 28 June 2010

Scottish Executive

Fisheries

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33328 by Richard Lochhead on 5 May 2010, which stages of the production process for Scottish farmed salmon must take place in (a) Scotland and (b) the protected geographical indication-designated area in order for the product to be classified as Scottish farmed salmon.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government acknowledges that there are discrepancies between the single document and the specification, but European law makes clear that it is the specification that defines the terms of the PGI. It was always the intention of the applicant group that the early stages of production could take place outside the designated geographical area and that the saltwater stages of production are to be within it, and the specification reflects this.

  We would welcome industry efforts to address the discrepancies between the single document and the specification.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what preventative action it is taking in light of projections from the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland that the number of people with sight loss could double to almost 400,000 by 2030.

Shona Robison: There are a number of measures already in place in Scotland to help prevent sight loss, including free NHS eye examinations for all and diabetic retinopathy screening.

  The NHS eye examination is tailored to meet the needs of the patient, taking into account their history and symptoms, allowing the patient to receive, free of charge, an appropriate health assessment of their whole visual system and allowing for early diagnosis of potential sight threatening disease.

  Diabetic retinopathy is regarded as the leading cause of blindness in people of working age. It is therefore essential that retinopathy is detected and treated as early as possible.

  The Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) programme aims to promote accessible and equitable delivery of diabetic retinal screening across Scotland.

  The DRS programme is widely regarded as a world class service and has robust processes in place to ensure that all people who are eligible for diabetic retinopathy screening are offered it on a regular basis. The programme’s report for 2008-09 states that 83% of eligible people with diabetes in Scotland were screened for retinopathy, exceeding the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland standard of 80%.

  This programme is very much a part of our wider commitment to ensure that people with diabetes get the best possible care, and we will continue to monitor its progress through the annual Scottish Diabetes Survey.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in light of World Health Assembly estimations that 50% of sight loss could be avoided through measures such as greater public awareness, sight-screening and anti-smoking campaigns.

Shona Robison: NHS eye examinations, which allow the patient to receive an appropriate health assessment of their whole visual system, are free to all in Scotland. They are already making a significant contribution to the prevention of sight loss in Scotland.

  Work is currently underway on a revision to the leaflet Your guide to free NHS eye examinations in Scotland. Supplies of the leaflet will be sent to opticians and to GP practices and to CHPs to distribute locally to vulnerable groups. We will consider whether a wider circulation should be undertaken. In addition, there are some projects being developed through pump-priming funding, such as the Glasgow Ethnic Minorities eye care project, which encourage people to attend for NHS eye examinations

  We recognise that smoking can be a contributory factor to vision loss in some cases. The smoke-free legislation has increased the awareness of the risks associated with smoking and in particular the dangers of passive smoking.

  The forthcoming smoking cessation marketing campaign, planned for launch in the autumn, aims to increase referrals to NHS Stop Smoking Services to build upon the ever increasing reach of those services.

  Work is also ongoing to increase the number of brief interventions and referrals for specialist smoking cessation support delivered by all health professionals. Included in that would be the range of professions involved in the assessment and treatment of patients where there may be a risk of sight loss.

  Vision screening programmes are in place including, pre-school screening, screening for those on specific drugs and diabetic retinopathy screening.

  It is a central role of diabetes services to help support people with diabetes and make sure they are aware of the importance of achieving good control of blood glucose levels. This is essential to ensuring that the risk of complications such as diabetic retinopathy and sight loss are minimised.

  Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness. Our Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening programme offers retinopathy screening to all eligible people with diabetes in Scotland.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase early diagnosis and treatment of sight-threatening conditions among those individuals most at risk of sight loss.

Shona Robison: A number of initiatives are in place to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of sight threatening conditions, including:

  the NHS eye examination, which is free to all in Scotland, allows for early diagnosis of potential sight threatening disease. Optometrists can directly refer patients to the hospital eye service;

  the Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening programme which aims to promote accessible and equitable delivery of diabetic retinopathy screening across Scotland. Diabetic retinopathy is regarded as the leading cause of blindness in people of working age. It is therefore essential that retinopathy is detected and treated as early as possible;

  a waiting time standard of 18 weeks from referral by a GP or optometrist to cataract surgery;

  treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, where detected quickly. Treatment does not restore any lost vision but has the potential to prevent further loss.

  the Scottish Uveitis Network which, through collaboration and multi-discipline working, will result in significant improvement in the outcome of people with sight-threatening uveitis, and

  NHS boards can make arrangements with optometrists to provide services on their behalf which are normally carried out in a hospital setting. Under these services accredited optometrists with further training can provide a range of services on behalf of boards. A number of these services are in place, including low vision aid services, the Glasgow Integrated Eye Service, the Lothian Optometry Cataract Initiative and the Grampian Eye Health Network.

  In addition, NHS Fife has put in place a referral scheme whereby optometrists refer any eye problems directly to the hospital eye service by email. These referrals are screened by specialist nursing staff who allocate an appointment as appropriate. In some cases this allows non-sight threatening conditions to be monitored by optometrists in the community. Sight threatening conditions, are allocated an appointment within 48 hours.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targeted interventions are (a) underway and (b) planned for early diagnosis and treatment of sight-threatening conditions among those individuals most at risk of sight loss.

Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34536 on 28 June 2010. All answers to written Parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Health

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it collects information on how much is spent by each of the NHS Scotland territorial boards specifically on services for people affected by motor neurone disease and, if so, how much each board has spent in each year for which figures are available.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will be entitled to Life Begins at 40 health checks.

Shona Robison: Current population figures suggest around 72,000 people each year across Scotland will be entitled to Life Begins at 40 health checks.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds will take place.

Shona Robison: The pilot of universal health checks will explore the potential benefits of checks conducted at five yearly intervals.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity Keep Well health checks will take place.

Shona Robison: Currently Keep Well health checks are not repeated.

  There is an option in the current mainstreaming primary prevention consultation paper for these checks to be five yearly.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity Life Begins at 40 health checks will take place.

Shona Robison: Currently the Life Begins at 40 checks are for each person on reaching their 40th year.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.

Shona Robison: An assessment of the costs of providing universal health checks to 40 to 70 year olds will be one of the outputs from the research on the health checks pilots from 2011.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing Keep Well health checks.

Shona Robison: The current consultation paper on mainstreaming the Keep Well primary prevention programme from April 2012 indicates a budget of £8.5 million for NHS board checks plus further support for the whole Keep Well programme.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing Life Begins at 40 health checks.

Shona Robison: An assessment of the costs of the Life Begins at 40 checks will be made towards the end of the pilot phase later this year.

  The budget allocated to NHS 24 for piloting the Life Begins at 40 project was set for 2009-10 at £224,742 and for 2010-11 at £444,558.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with the British Medical Association regarding the introduction of universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.

Shona Robison: The BMA have been invited to join a new steering group led by Scottish Government overseeing the implementation of primary prevention.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with Community Pharmacy Scotland regarding the introduction of universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.

Shona Robison: Community Pharmacy Scotland have been invited to join a new steering group led by Scottish Government overseeing the implementation of primary prevention.

Justice

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time, permanent procurators fiscal were employed as of 1 April 2009, broken down by area.

Frank Mulholland: Full-time-equivalent procurator fiscal employed at 1 April 2009, includes staff on paid /unpaid sick, maternity:

  

 Area
 Total


 Argyll and Clyde
 30


 Ayrshire
 24


 Central
 17


 Corporate Services Group
 22


 Dumfries and Galloway
 9


 Fife
 15


 Glasgow
 90


 Grampian
 27


 Highland and Islands
 16


 Lanarkshire
 45


 Lothian and Borders
 49


 Crown Office Operations
 65


 Strategy Delivery Division
 2


 Tayside
 32


 Total
 443


 Secondee to OGD
 12



  Note: The figures presented show the full-time equivalent permanent staff, rounded to the nearest whole number for clarity of presentation. The figures do not correlate to head count.

Justice

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time, permanent procurators fiscal were employed as of 1 April 2010, broken down by area.

Frank Mulholland: Full-time equivalent procurator fiscal employed at 1 April 2010, includes staff on paid /unpaid sick, maternity:

  

 Area
 Total


 Argyll and Clyde
 33


 Ayrshire
 23


 Central
 18


 Corporate Services Group
 24


 Dumfries and Galloway
 10


 Fife
 18


 Glasgow
 92


 Grampian
 30


 Highland and Islands
 17


 Lanarkshire
 47


 Lothian and Borders
 52


 Crown Office Operations
 66


 Strategy Delivery Division
 3


 Tayside
 28


 Total
 460


 Secondee to OGD
 10



  Note: The figures presented show the full-time equivalent permanent staff, rounded to the nearest whole number for clarity of presentation. The figures do not correlate to head count.

Justice

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to recruit additional procurators fiscal in 2010-11.

Frank Mulholland: There is no plan to recruit additional permanent procurators fiscal. Some recruitment of fixed-term procurators fiscal is planned to cover some short term needs during 2010-11.

Justice

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time, permanent procurators fiscal it expects to employ as at 31 March 2011.

Frank Mulholland: Estimated full-time equivalent procurator fiscal employed at 31 March 2011, includes staff on paid /unpaid sick, maternity:

  

 Area
 Total


 Argyll and Clyde
 33


 Ayrshire
 23


 Central
 18


 Corporate Services Group
 24


 Dumfries and Galloway
 10


 Fife
 18


 Glasgow
 92


 Grampian
 30


 Highland and Islands
 17


 Lanarkshire
 47


 Lothian and Borders
 52


 Crown Office Operations
 66


 Strategy Delivery Division
 3


 Tayside
 28


 Total
 460


 Secondee to OGD
 10



  Note: The figures presented show the full-time equivalent permanent staff, rounded to the nearest whole number for clarity of presentation. The figures do not correlate to head count.

Justice

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to manage a freeze on the number of cases taken to court in 2010-11.

Frank Mulholland: COPFS receives reports of crime from Scottish police forces and a number of specialist reporting agencies. All such reports are considered carefully and decisions are taken as to whether it is in the public interest to prosecute or to take some other action. Each case is considered on its own merits.

  COPFS has no plans to manage a freeze on the number of case taken to court in 2010-11

Multiple Sclerosis

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it holds figures on the numbers of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who have undergone clinical tests or treatment for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

NHS Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the performance of national contract agencies in meeting NHS boards’ requests for locum doctors and, if so, what action will be taken in circumstances where performance falls below agreed levels.

Nicola Sturgeon: Performance will continue to be monitored by National Services Scotland’s National Procurement division with summary reports being distributed to NHS boards. Suppliers are required to respond to all requests made by boards and put forward suitable candidates for those assignments. Failure to do so will initially trigger improvement plans but could ultimately lead to removal from the framework if the issue is pervasive and attempts to improve performance are not successful.

NHS Hospitals

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33585 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 May 2010, what consultations took place with the families of young people with cystic fibrosis regarding the decision to close ward 6B at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33585 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 May 2010, whether it will meet the management of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the correspondence that the Cystic Fibrosis Trust has received from families who believe general ward nursing staff to be inexperienced in nursing children with cystic fibrosis.

Nicola Sturgeon: It is for NHS boards to staff and provide services that best meet the needs of local people.

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have given assurances that staff at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children engaged with the young patients and their families to ensure that they understood the reasons behind the changes and what it meant for patients.

  The NHS board reports that staff have worked hard to allay any initial concerns families had about the changes, and have reiterated that there has been no diminution in the service provided: whilst the use of accommodation within the same hospital building has changed, the service and the staff providing it remain the same.

NHS Hospitals

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33586 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 May 2010, whether it will meet the chief executives of NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde following confirmation by the National Services Division that cystic fibrosis specialist nurses are being directed to spend one day per week undertaking general ward duties.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33587 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 May 2010, whether it will meet the management of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh to ensure that home visits are provided as part of patients’ planned ongoing care following clinical decisions to determine the most appropriate setting to receive care.

Nicola Sturgeon: National Services Division (NSD) has confirmed that for the nationally designated adult cystic fibrosis service it commissions, cystic fibrosis nurse specialists are not being directed to work one day per week on general ward duties. NSD does not commission the paediatric cystic fibrosis service in either Lothian or Glasgow.

  It is for NHS boards to staff and provide services that meet the needs of local people. All boards must have robust processes in place to ensure the continuing provision of safe, effective, high quality patient care; delivered by the right professional, at the right time.

  Both NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have provided assurances that cystic fibrosis specialist nurses working on the ward for a limited period will not curtail their ability to provide specialist care and support, including home visits if this is required by families.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33651 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing became aware of the content of the workforce planning projections for 2010-11 submitted to the Scottish Government by NHS boards.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am kept advised of developing NHS board workforce projections on an ongoing basis.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the increase in the cost of the use of medical locums in 2008-09 by NHS boards was approximately double the amount spent in 1996-97 in real terms, as reported in the Audit Scotland report, Using locum doctors in hospitals.

Nicola Sturgeon: As stated in the Audit Scotland report, while the cost of agency medical locums has increased since 1997, the overall spend on medical locums has remained static in recent years. Contributing factors identified in the Audit Scotland report include increased demand for agency locum doctors. In addition, prices charged by agencies have increased.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the set national rate of pay is for internal locum doctors already employed in the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34586 on 25 June 2010. All the answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give assistance to address the high vacancy rate for consultants in the three island NHS boards.

Nicola Sturgeon: Recruitment and selection of staff is a matter for individual NHS boards. In the next few years it is anticipated that there will be considerably more doctors completing specialist training than expected vacancies. Boards should be able to design posts in order to attract the surplus of doctors available.

Planning

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is planning for an increase in cases taken to court during 2010-11.

Frank Mulholland: COPFS receives reports of crime from Scottish police forces and a range of specialist reporting agencies. All such reports are considered carefully and decisions are taken as to whether it is in the public interest to prosecute or to take some other action. Each case is considered on its own merits. However, as an increase in the number of reports received is not anticipated, we are not forecasting an increase in cases taken to court during 2010-11.

Respite Care

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been invested in residential respite care in each year since 2007.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

  Under the Concordat, the Scottish Government and COSLA committed to ensure progress towards delivering 10,000 extra respite weeks per annum. As part of the local government settlement, the Scottish Government has invested over £4 million in the two years 2009-10 and 2010-11 to enable local authorities to deliver the increase by 2011. The funding is for overnight and daytime respite and for day care and care home, at the discretion of local authorities; it is not apportioned between residential and non-residential respite care.

  In addition to these specific resources provided by the Scottish Government, local authorities and health boards have spent their own resources on the provision of respite. Some of this will have been for residential respite care.

  Local authorities’ net revenue expenditure on support for carers, including respite care – some of which is residential care - was £100 million in 2006-07, £117.034 million in 2007-08 and £134.740 million in 2008-09¹.

  Note: 1 When comparing revenue expenditure levels in 2008-09 to previous years, there was a change to the local government funding structure in 2008-09, with the former ring-fenced revenue grants being rolled up into General Revenue Funding. As a result of this change, the figure in 2008-09 is not wholly comparable with the previous years’ figures.